The summer of 2013 was a season of stellar musical highs from David Byrne and St Vincent at the Electric Picnic to Bruce Springsteen's Irish tour to Chic at Forbidden Fruit. But the end of the summer doesn't mean the fun has to stop. After all, isn't live music more suited to indoors than outdoors anyway?
For music fans, there's a lot happening between now and the end of the year (we're not allowed to mention the "C*****mas" word in The Ticket until early November) so it's time to pull on your boots and dive in. Here's our guide to 20 upcoming events – shows, tours and releases – which we think will rock your world and get you away from the couch and the telly.
HAIM
It seems as if we've been waiting for Days Are Gone for aaaages. The Los Angeles trio hit the new music radar at SXSW 2012 and it's been onwards and upwards for them over the past 18 months. Thanks to a rake of pumped-up live shows, the sisters' fresh, sunny, vibrant sound has quickly gained an audience. The debut album Days Are Gone is released on September 27th and the band play Dublin's Academy on December 13th (sold out).
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ARCADE FIRE
They're back. The Canadian band's last album The Suburbs set them firmly on the path to supernova status and also saw them refinding their creative feet as a band (ie, it was a whole better than Neon Bible). It will be interesting to see what changes parenthood has had on Win Butler and Regine Chassagne, but we're more interested in what LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy has brought to the party as producer. He describes the album as "really fucking epic". Consider us super-psyched. Reflektor is out on October 25th; expect live shows to be announced for 2014.
TELEVISION
There are influential acts and then, there's Television. If you were to line up all the musicians who went on to form bands after hearing Television's seminal Marquee Moon, the queue would stretch for miles. In terms of astonishing playing and rich, imaginative guitar heroics, no-one came close to what Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Fred Smith and Billy Ficca did on their 1977 album. Television play Dublin's Vicar Street on November 21st.
CHIC
If you saw Chic win over the delirious masses at Forbidden Fruit in June, you won't need any further persuasion to catch these dates. Riding high thanks to his vital part in Get Lucky and Daft Punk's album, Nile Rodgers and co will be demonstrating with great panache that disco- pop never goes out of date. They play Belfast's Ulster Hall (October 23rd), Limerick Big Top (25th), Cork's Opera House (26th), Galway's Radisson Hotel (27th) and Dublin's Vicar Street (29th and 30th).
HUNTERS MOON FESTIVAL
A three-day fest highlighting the "unusual, minimal, free, outer psychedelic and strange" in sound and vision, Hunters Moon takes place over the October bank holiday weekend in and around Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim. Acts on the slate for 2013 include Rhys Chatham, Zomes, Jennifer Walshe, Control Unit, Bird People, Zom, Cathal Roche and many more.
THE NATIONAL
For many, one of the summer's live music highlights was The National's triumphant appearance at Live at the Marquee in Cork. The band behind this year's excellent Trouble Will Find Me album return to Ireland later this year for dates at the Odyssey, Belfast (November 9th) and The O2, Dublin (10th).
LORDE
New-music tipsters have been raving about this talented New Zealand teenager all year long and it's now time for everyone else to get behind Ella Yelich-O'Connor. She releases her debut album Pure Heroine on October 28th and, until that comes along, you should check out her dramatic, hooky and idiosyncratic pop on tracks such as Royals.
HARD WORKING CLASS HEROES
It's the 11th run-out for the annual showcase for new Irish acts, which has become a reliable barometer regarding musical talent here over the past decade. From the acts playing various venues in central Dublin from October 3rd to 5th, we recommend Daithí, Come On Live Long, Tieranniesaur, September Girls, Leanne Harte, Myles Manley, little xs for eyes and Conor Walsh. Do yourself a favour and go along and watch some random band you've never heard of before.
ONETWOONETWO
The second outing for the music documentary festival will feature such big screen eye-candy as Mistaken for Strangers (Tom Berninger's film about his brother's band The National), This Is Spinal Tap, Dave Chappelle's Block Party (one of the best live music flicks ever), Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me and many more. Lighthouse, Dublin, from October 3rd to 6th.
CORK JAZZ FESTIVAL
It's not just for jazzers, you know. While stalwarts such as Portico Quartet, Courtney Pine, Billy Cobham, Mingus Big Band and Snarky Puppy will draw the jazz cats, the eclectic booking policy also means you've also a clutch of other acts including Efterklang, Chic, Primal Scream, Bilal and Soul II Soul to see over the October bank holiday weekend. Various venues Cork from October 25th to 28th.
OTHER VOICES
It's been a busy 12 months for the Other Voices TV show since they last lined out at St James' Church in downtown Dingle. With trips to Derry and London under their belt and many new experiences in the can, Other Voices returns home in December for its 12th run in Co Kerry. Acts and exact dates for the event to be confirmed.
CALVIN HARRIS AND TIESTO
No surprise that this two-mega-DJsfor-the-price-of-one big night out is already sold out. When it comes to chart-friendly, big-room dance music in 2013, you don't get any bigger than the Scottish lad behind Thinking About You and the Dutch trance master. Playing Belfast's Odyssey on
December 18th and Dublin's O2 the following night.
LISA O'NEILL
Whatever about their footballers, Cavan are having much better fortune these days with their musicians. The Strypes are already up and running, The Would Bes are on their way back and now comes Lisa O'Neill's new record to represent the county. We have a feeling a lot more people are going to be raving about O'Neill's spellbinding voice, smashing songs and powerful live performances when Same Cloth Or Not is released on October 18th.
FISH GO DEEP
Cork deep-house fans and Sir Henrys
survivors Greg Dowling and Shane Johnson mark 25 years in business this year and they've a couple of special events planned for the occasion. Aside from a turn in the big smoke at Dublin's Twisted Pepper on October 19th, they also have big bashes planned for the real capital on November 29th and 30th.
LADY GAGA
She's back, but then again, did Lady Gaga ever actually go away? That's the thing about pop stars in 2013 – they don't seem to take a break and dial things down a little at any stage. Anyway, Gaga's third album is called ARTPOP and it's released on November 8th. She says she doesn't "feel the need to prove anything anymore" so we can expect fireworks, risktaking, unicorns, duets with Daniel O'Donnell and massive neon-lit pop spectaculars.
EMINEM
He's back, but the 80,000-plus fans (and celebs in baseball caps who went along for the crack) who went to see him at Slane Castle last month know that already. The comeback album is called MMLP2 and it arrives on November 1st. The big question: will it be a return to form or simply more "woe-is-me" self-pity without any decent tunes?
THE BEATYARD FESTIVAL
The Beatyard has been building in size and heft over the past few outings and this year sees its most impressive and wide-ranging to date. A huge collaborative city-wide festival, it will feature acts such as Raekwon the Chef, Hot 8 Brass Band, Efterklang, Waxahatchee, David Rodigan, Sam Amidon, Henrik Schwarz, Blondes and many more playing and performing in 11 venues across Dublin from October 19th to 27th.
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Josh Homme and friends finally got their act together after six years and countless side projects and production gigs to release their sixth album earlier in the year. It was worth the wait, though, as …Like Clockwork is a heavyweight freak scene of tasty riffs, rock gallops and guest turns from the likes of Trent Reznor, Alex Turner and Elton John. The latter three will be absent when the Queens play Dublin's O2 on November 17th and Belfast's Odyssey Arena the following night.
PEARL JAM
Remember Pearl Jam? With all the recent nostalgic focus on grunge and Nirvana, thoughts now turn to the other big Seattle band from that era. Pearl Jam haven't released an album in a few years, but their 10th release Lightning Bolt might well be something to savour. The first track from the album, Mind Your Manners, sounds like the return of 1994, and producer Brendan O'Brien has been talking the album up too. "If you like Pearl Jam, you'll love this," he said. "And if you haven't listened to Pearl Jam in awhile, I think it's going to bring you in." Sure, who knows, there might even be some Irish shows in the offing.
KODALINE
Like them or loath them, it has been impossible to ignore Kodaline in 2013. It appears as if they haven't stopped all year long, but such work has helped push sales of debut album In A Perfect World, increase radio play for singles such as High Hopes and grow their fanbase. Their three-night stand at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on November 21st, 22nd and 23rd may have seemed a tad ambitious when first announced, but all the shows are now sold out. It's certainly a long way from appearing on TV's You're A Star as 21 Demands.
